purpose. it was alreadythelaw, buthe took executive action underthatlawtoban the importation of specific weapons. the gun control act of 1968 that gave him that power was passed in the wake of the assassinations robert kennedy and martin luther king. and it is what gave george h.w. bush to take that executive action that he took banning some rifles. in 1989, two months after that schoolyard massacre in stockton, california. years later, president clinton followed in his footsteps. president clinton, in 1998, took executive action as president to ban the importation of more than 50 different kinds of semiautomatic assault weapons. this was in addition to the assault weapons ban. this was further action taken by the president alone in 1998. he took executive action to ban the importation of certain kinds of guns. today, president obama became yet another modern president to use his executive authority for reform of gun-related laws. president obama did not use his authority as president as his predecessors did. and i mean that in this sense. none of the executive actions that pres

. then that was followed by another long and ultimately very bloody standoffbetweenlawenforcementand this very well-armed group of people. it was a 50-day standoff in waco that ended in a massive fire and many, many fatalities. >> good evening. it appears tonight that david koresh, who believed that he was the son of god, perished today in a setting that closely resembled hell. and apparently, he took more than 85 of his followers with him, including it's estimated 17 children. >> what happened at waco was an absolute nightmare. but on parts of the very far right, on the anti-government far right fringe, it was seen not just as a nightmare but as a conspiracy, as a government conspiracy, as something that was ginned up and in fact faked by the government to create a big enough, scary enough situation that it would justify taking away everyone's guns. a freshman republican congressman from texas at the time, a congressman named steve stockman, even wrote in an article in "guns & ammo" magazine that waco was a government execution. he said, "waco was supposed to be a way for the bu

lawenforcementcan have so-called cop killer bullets, those armor-piercing bullets. 67% of the country supports that. and the numbers get higher from there. emergency response plans in schools. 69% support it. more cops. 70% support it. cracking down on straw purchases, right? where people buy a gun because they don't clear the background check but then they're really buying it for somebody who won't clear the background check. 75% of people support cracking down on that. more training for responding to shooters and violent incidents in schools. 79% of people support that. more resources for mental health programs, especially for younger people, 82% of people support that. these are all of the things that have been proposed by president obama and vice president biden, right? and the crown jewel of what they're proposing? look at this. it's the most popular one of all. it's the centerpiece of their proposals. and it is the most popular thing of all. requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales. not just for 60% of gun sales, which is what we have now in this country, b

reject their legislation. i don't want to be considered part of that, but i will sign itintolaw. thatis exactly the way that governor bob mcdonnell played it a year ago when virginia republicans got themselves nationally famous with their bill forcing unwanted and medically unnecessary ultra sounds on virginia women, right? bob mcdonnell did the same deal back then. he expressed surprise. what is this you are doing in the legislature, fellow republicans. i certainly did not expect this. this is not my priority. don't associate me with this. and then he signed it, thus earning himself the national nickname ever more of governor ultrasound. same deal. what is this? what are you doing there? i definitely don't want to be famous for that. democrats in the virginia capital tell us that if the surprised gerrymandering bill passes and the governor does sign it, they will ask the courts to declare it unconstitutional. but meanwhile, virginia republicans are also pushing a bill that would also change the state's rules for electing a president. based on the congressional maps that virginia rep

their own ideas. >>thislawfailedby seven votes. when seven republicans, who had co-sponsored the bill, had co-sponsored the idea, suddenly walked away from their own proposal after i endorsed it. so they make a proposal, sign on to the bill. i say, great. good idea. i turned around -- they're gone. what happened? >> this was a hallmark of president obama's first term. republicans were going to say no, no, no, no matter what he offered. even if what he offered was their own idea in the first place. that is how it went for months and then that is how it went for years. and now, what's new? he is not doing that anymore. >> i have put forward a very clear principle. i will not negotiate around the debt ceiling. you know, we're not going to play the same game that we saw happen in 2011. so we're not going to do that. but i will not negotiate around the debt ceiling. we're not going to do that again. >> as i said earlier this week, one of the things i will not compromise over is whether or not congress should pay the tab for a bill they've already racked up. >> what i will not do is to

are recognized as equal underthelaw. heis talking about doma, the supreme court argument to come. he is surrounded by the supreme court right this. and he talked about stonewall. talking about stonewall in an inaugural address, i was really profoundly moved by that. this is not just saying okay, these people helped elect me. this is saying this is a commitment. we're expanding the vision of dr. martin luther king jr. and we're talking about equal rights for all of us. he is talking about seneca falls. he is talking about women's rights and equal pay. and this was a very forward-looking, progressive, inclusive speech. >> i will say as a gay person that i am used to gay people being name checked in speeches, put in a list of demographic groups that you want to shout out to recognize that we exist, which is always nice. but to have the president articulate why the fight, the continuing struggle, the not at all settled struggle for equal rights is an american project, and to have that delivered from the inaugural lectern was i think -- felt personally was moving to me personally. but

what jobs exactly women could have in the military were gone. there wasnolawbanningwomen from specific jobs in the military, but there was a defense department policy that said women could not serve in units whose primary mission was to engage in direct combat on the ground. so that has been the rule. no women in combat. that's the rule. supposedly. as if. >> well, i didn't lose my legs in a bar fight. >> that's illinois congresswoman tammy duckworth, a blackhawk pilot who lost both legs in iraq. technically she was not engaged in ground warfare because she was flying the aircraft and it was only the people shooting her down on the ground. do you really want to split hairs with her about whether or not that count as combat? in the wars and iraq and afghanistan, defining what counts as a combat role and what does not count as a combat role has been a fool's errand from the beginning. in those wars over the past decade, 61 american women have been killed in iraq in combat by hostile action. and in afghanistan, where the war is still going on, so far 23 american women have been k

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